National_and_Tribal_Evaluation_of_the_2nd_Generation_of_the_Health_Profession_Opportunity_Grants _Amendment_1.pdf

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Solicitation: 15-233-SOL-00191

Amendment: 0001

National and Tribal Evaluation of the 2 nd

Generation of the

Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG)

Pre-Proposal Conference Notes 6/3/2015

Participants:

Program Support Center

Isaac Bellamy, Contract Specialist, Acquisition Management Services

Administration for Children and Families

Hilary Forster, Social Science Research Analyst, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation

Nicole Constance, Social Science Research Analyst, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation

Amelia Popham, Social Science Research Analyst, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation

Erica Hecht Zielewski, Acting Director, Division of Economic Independence, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation

Abt Associates

Cindy Taylor

Ann Collins

Richard Tessier

Jacob Klerman

Kaufmann & Associates Inc.

Adrienne Wiley

Provider Resources, Inc.

Elisa Estrella

NORC

Michael Meit

Kate Fromknecht

Introductions: Isaac Bellamy

Summary of Key Points in the Solicitation: Nicole Constance and Amelia Popham

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is holding a pre-proposal conference to discuss the newly announced “National and Tribal Evaluation of the 2nd Generation of the

Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG)” project.

Key Points:

The HPOG program was initially funded by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care

Act (ACA) of 2010 to fund demonstration projects to provide TANF recipients and other low-income individuals with opportunities for education, training, and advancement that lead to jobs that pay well and address the healthcare professions’ workforce needs.

The HPOG program has been extended for one year by the Protecting Access to

Medicare Act (HR 4302). In response, ACF published two Funding Opportunity

Announcements (FOAs) on March 30, 2015. Both FOAs are intended to fund HPOG programs serving TANF recipients and other low-income individuals, and one of the

FOAs is specifically for tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal colleges or universities applying to administer an HPOG program.

The FOAs outlined in detail the evaluation requirements that all HPOG grantees will be expected to adhere to; these requirements differ slightly for the Tribal vs. non-tribal grantees. In particular, Tribal grantees are not expected to participate in random assignment, but do have the option to indicate interest in doing so.

Applications for new program grants were due on May 29, 2015, and the new grants are expected to be awarded by September 2015.

ACF anticipates funding approximately 40 grantees with the expectation they will serve approximately 40,000 individuals. Approximately five out of the 40 grantees will be awarded under the Tribal HPOG FOA.

The HPOG program grant period is expected to be for five years with the understanding that years two through five of the grant period are contingent on the availability of funding

This solicitation for the National and Tribal Evaluation of the 2nd Generation of the

Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) is intended to support the execution of

Federally-sponsored impact, outcome, and implementation studies of the second round of the HPOG program.

The programs funded by HPOG are based on a career pathways framework, which has emerged as a promising strategy to promote education, training, and workforce advancement among low-income or low-skilled individuals. The HPOG programs are in line with the strategies outlined in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s Ready to Work: Job-Driven Training and American

Opportunity report, and other career pathways efforts in the field. The work performed under this solicitation is expected to be aware of, informed by, and coordinated with these efforts.

While the studies supported by this solicitation will institute a new research and evaluation portfolio around the new HPOG programs, they are also expected to build on the knowledge generated in the current OPRE career pathways portfolio described in the

Background section of the solicitation, as well as other similar studies that have been conducted. Further, some work has already occurred to support and prepare for the evaluation of the second round of HPOG Grantees. Please see Appendices A and B of the solicitation for the Draft Evaluation Design Recommendations Report and Draft Memo on Uniform Data Elements, respectively. While this solicitation supports a new work requirement, the work carried out under this solicitation will be expected to use, finalize, and/or build on this prior to work to fully execute the evaluation.

Through the studies supported by this solicitation, ACF is interested in understanding not only if new HPOG demonstration programs result in positive outcomes for participants, but also how best to implement these types of strategies and/or what strategies or components are successful.

To accomplish this, ACF plans to rigorously evaluate the new round of HPOG programs using a two-pronged approach.

First, the newly awarded non-tribal HPOG programs will be evaluated using a randomized controlled trial. The evaluation activities included in the Statement of Work for this solicitation are intended to provide information on program implementation, systems change, participant outcomes, and impacts. Program implementation and systems change will be assessed through an implementation study, and participant outcomes and program impacts will be assessed using follow-up surveys and analyses of administrative data. Select HPOG programs may also implement different program components or

“enhancements” to measure the impact of specific program components.

Second, Tribal HPOG grantees awarded under the extension of the HPOG program will be evaluated under a separate comprehensive implementation and outcomes study. This evaluation will rigorously assess the HPOG programs being administered by tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal colleges or universities. Rigorous evaluation in tribal communities means that sound scientific methods need to be employed but that they must also be grounded in sound cultural methods. The evaluation will identify and assess how programmatic health profession training operations are working, determine differences in approaches being used when programs are serving different sub-populations, including participants with different characteristics and skill levels, and identify programs and practices that are successful in leading the target population to achieve portable industry-recognized certificates or degrees as well as employment-related outcomes.

To successfully meet the requirements outlined in the solicitation around the evaluation of the

Tribal HPOG programs (Key Optional Services Components 2 and 3), Offerors are expected to recruit, select, and subcontract with experts on conducting research with tribal populations and communities, unless Offerors can demonstrate to the satisfaction of ACF that they have sufficient experience and capacity to do so without a subcontract. If a subcontractor is needed to satisfy this requirement, the subcontractor’s relevant qualifications and experience should be included in the proposal. The contractor and/or subcontractor will be expected to work closely with the Tribal HPOG grantees to ensure the tribes are comfortable with the evaluation efforts and that the efforts meet not only ACF’s needs but each tribe’s needs and respect tribal sovereignty. Note that offerors may also propose to include subcontractors on tasks related to the

National HPOG Evaluation where appropriate.

Several key tasks in this contract will need to be carried out on a fast timeline.

As indicated in the solicitation, we anticipate that the periods of performance for both

Services Component 1 and Key Optional Services Component 2 will start in September

2015.

The HPOG program grants are expected to be awarded in September 2015 as well;

grantees will have up to a 120-day planning period before program operations commence. The following activities outlined in the solicitation will need to be completed prior to the end of the grantees’ 120-day planning period:

o First, given that random assignment is expected to start as soon as program operations do, the Contractor selected through this competition will need to initiate the impact evaluation by the start of HPOG program operations.

o Second, the Contractor selected will need to draft and execute a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) with each grantee (including tribal grantees).

o Finally, as stated previously, the Tribal HPOG programs are not required to participate in the random assignment study; however any tribe or tribal organization awarded under the Tribal HPOG FOA has the option to express interest in participation in the random assignment study. Should any tribal grantee(s) express an interest, the Contractor selected shall create and execute a

Random Assignment Feasibility Assessment for individual Tribal HPOG grantee(s) participation in the random assignment study. Please note that any

Tribal HPOG program that does not participate in the random assignment study will automatically be part of the separate tribal implementation and outcome evaluation.

Due to the cost implications of the anticipated large sample size for the impact evaluation, ACF does not expect it to be possible to administer follow-up survey(s) to the entire sample for the

National Evaluation. Instead, it is expected that both follow-up surveys and analyses of administrative data will be used to report HPOG program impacts.

In their proposals, Offerors should propose their best ideas for innovative, creative, and cost-efficient methods for tracking and locating individuals that are traditionally difficult to reach in order to maximize the information collected through surveys. Offerors should also propose an approach to selecting participants for survey administration in a manner that ensures the sample taking the survey is representative of all HPOG participants served by non-tribal programs.

ACF is excited that the HPOG program was extended and presents the opportunity to kick off this new portfolio of work. Please remember that applications are due on July 15, 2015, and any application received after 11:59pm on this date will be considered late.

Questions:

Ann Collins, Abt Associates: Abt Associates would prefer to confer internally and submit questions in writing by deadline.

Cindy Taylor from Abt Associates confirmed.

Isaac Bellamy, PSC: Questions are due on June 14, 2015 by 11:59pm and must be submitted in writing to Isaac.Bellamy@psc.hhs.gov. The Government will post the questions and responses to all vendors on FBO.

Adjourn.

mailto:Isaac.Bellamy@psc.hhs.gov